Del Bigtree, one of the leaders of the anti-vaccine movement, generated record profits last year for the nonprofit group he founded, according to the latest tax filings.
The Informed Consent Action Network, known as ICAN, reported $23 million in revenue for 2023, a 74% increase from the previous year. The group spent nearly $17 million on efforts including legal battles and anti-vaxxer advocacy, an increase of about 25% in those areas from the previous year.
ICAN tax documents, obtained by our sister network NBC News, show the growing prominence and profitability of the anti-vaccine movement in the ongoing fight over vaccination policies and public health. The pandemic boosted groups like ICAN, which reported about $3.5 million in revenue in 2019, expanding the audience interested in anti-vaccine content and growing the coffers of those who produce it. Numerous studies have found that Vaccines are safe and life-saving, and not linked to autism, but that hasn’t stopped misinformation from spreading.
Revenue at Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was also on the rise until last year, when it fell more than 30% to $16 million. This loss coincided with Kennedy’s resignation from his positions as president and chief trial lawyer to launch an unsuccessful presidential campaign.
But ICAN’s revenue continued to grow and Bigtree’s profile has risen. The former anti-vaccine television producer and filmmaker, whose organization was known for its attention-grabbing stunts and filing freedom of information requests, became communications director for Kennedy’s presidential campaign for an independent party and advised Kennedy as he was preparing for his possible role as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Bigtree and ICAN did not respond to requests for comment.
Katie Miller, a Kennedy transition team spokeswoman who was recently named to join the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, said Bigtree was never involved in the transition and that her views “do not represent Mr. Kennedy’s Administration or the President’s.” (elected Donald) Trump.”
ICAN is not required to reveal the names of individual donors, although tax documents filed last year show large donations from family foundations and donor-advised funds, philanthropic intermediaries who match and make anonymous donations.
The group has celebrated what it characterizes as several big victories in the past year, including litigation that forced Mississippi to grant religious exemptions for vaccines. The group says it plans to pursue a similar strategy targeting the other five states that do not allow religious exemptions.
ICAN relies on individual supporters to fund the production of anti-vaccine content, including The HighWirea weekly anti-vaccine, conspiracy-laden Internet show hosted by Bigtree that the group describes as its educational arm. Bigtree punctuates the show not with commercials but with passionate pleas for donations, most recently with multimillion-dollar fundraising goals associated with specific legal fights.
ICAN’s biggest spend last year, $6 million, was for the New York law firm Siri & Glimstad, which handles public records requests, intervenes in state anti-vaccine fights and asks the federal government to suspend or revoke vaccines, including one against polio. Led by Aaron Siri, a lawyer and Kennedy adviser, the firm, with the help of dozens of lawyers working on vaccine cases, has received about $20 million from ICAN since 2017, according to tax documents.
Siri defended her work in an email to NBC News, saying her requests sought greater safety for vaccines and that ICAN’s financial support was “trivial” compared to the pharmaceutical industry’s spending.
Miller commented that Siri was no longer involved in the transition and does not represent Kennedy’s views.
ICAN describes its legal efforts as a “defense of humanity’s right to informed consent.” Experts have described it as exploitation of the courts. “Time and time again, this anti-vaccine group twisted both the legal and factual meaning of court decisions, settlements, and other legal actions to create a narrative that galvanized their followers and influenced newcomers,” read an article in 2022 in the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy. (Siri called the article “replete with categorically false claims.”)
The intent of other expenditures was less clear. ICAN paid $176,000 for “research consulting” to a UK company run by a chiropractor who has lectured on what he says are the dangers of vaccines and 5G technology. The group also paid $152,000 for consulting to Uncover DC, a news website founded and edited by Tracy Diaz, known online as Tracy Beanz, a popular conspiracy theorist and an early promoter of the QAnon movement. Díaz, who describes her site as “real journalism,” publishes press releases for ICAN and writes for the nonprofit’s website as a contributor.
Bigtree took home a $234,000 salary from ICAN in 2023, in addition to his income from paid speaking engagements (he says he only charges for ticketed events). Bigtree also earned $350,000 for consulting and communications work on the Kennedy presidential campaign over the past two years through KFP Consulting, a Texas organization registered with Bigtree.
Bigtree now runs a super PAC (MAHA Alliance) and a nonprofit (MAHA Action), both acronyms for Make America Healthy Again (Make America Healthy Again), a version of Trump’s MAGA slogan adopted by Kennedy after he dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed the winning candidate.
Bigtree recognized its multiple sources of income and efforts in The HighWire in November. “I feel incredibly blessed by God to have had all of these opportunities converging at the same time,” he said.
